His mother, an avid bridge player herself, introduced Zach to the complex card game. “The game just clicked to me. I ended up really just teaching myself,” Grossack said. He started playing at noncompetitive clubs with his mom. Immediately, Zach’s talent was acknowledged as he started playing bridge competitively.
“Bridge can be a frustrating game, but with time and practice, Bridge can make for a great time,” Zach said. “The only way to practice is to simply play and play and play.”
In July of this past summer, Zach and his brother Adam, a professional bridge player and student at Brandeis University, competed in a National Bridge Tournament in Philadelphia. “There was some real competition there,” Grossack said. The two ended up winning an event at the national tournament and came in 2nd place overall.
After the tournament in Philadelphia, they went to compete in China at the Youth International Bridge tournament.
The Youth International Bridge tournament consisted of 17 teams from all over the world: Poland, Sweden, Switzerland, China, France, Ireland, and many more. “The competition was good, there was some real talent, but Adam and I were ready,” Grossack said.
The tournament was 10 days long, and Zach played well over 200 hands.
The tournament was played in a round robin format, where each team plays every team once. The team who scores the most points (wins the most hands) moves on to the next round.
Zach and his team ended up finishing third in China. “I’m incredibly happy with the outcome, but I know we could have won,” Grossack said. “I didn’t really mind that there was no prize for getting on the podium; it’s playing the game that I love.”
Zach and his brother have accumulated Platinum Life Master Points; this is the second highest achievement award in the game.
While Adam Grossack plays professionally and is looking for a future in the game, “I don’t think my future will involve bridge. I simply just love the game and the challenges it presents,” Grossack said.
